World Series Game 5 suspended by rain

Tuesday

Oct 28, 2008 at 2:00 AM

PHILADELPHIA — Game 5 of the World Series was suspended because of rain in the sixth inning Monday night with the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays tied at 2 and the field already a sloppy, soggy mess.

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Game 5 of the World Series was suspended because of rain in the sixth inning Monday night with the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays tied at 2 and the field already a sloppy, soggy mess.

Rain was expected to continue into Tuesday, delaying the Phillies’ chance to wrap up their first championship since 1980. Philadelphia leads three games to one.

There has never been a rain-shortened game in Series history. Whenever this one resumes, it will pick up where it left off, with the Phils about to bat in the bottom of the sixth.

Carlos Pena hit a tying, two-out single in the sixth for the Rays, and the umpires called it moments later. By then, every ball and every pitch had become an adventure because of the miserable conditions.

“The infield was tough. The ball would do funny things,” Phillies second baseman Chase Utley said. “It was in bad shape. It was not playable.”

If Pena had not tied it, Selig said he would not have let the Phillies win with a game that was called after six innings.

“It’s not a way to end a World Series,” he said. “I would not have allowed a World Series to end this way.”

MLB changed its rules on suspended games in November 2006, adding a provision to resume them rather than replay them. In either case, this would have been a suspension because the visiting team tied it in the top of an inning and the home team never got to bat in the bottom half.

“It was terrible. The field wasn’t bad, but it was the worst conditions I’ve ever played in,” Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria said.

Tuesday was supposed to be a travel day, if necessary. Instead, the teams will stay in Philadelphia and then head back to Tropicana Field if the Rays win.

The delay, however, forced the Rays to find a hotel in Wilmington, Del., about 25 miles away.

About 10 minutes after the game was officially suspended, an announcement was made at Citizens Bank Park telling fans wrapped in plastic sheets they were done for the night.

By then, many had left their seats and streamed into the concourses. They crowded six or seven deep, trying to see any of the game before the umps signaled for the tarp.

Because it was only lightly raining when the game started, MLB hoped it could play a full nine innings. Quickly, however, the showers turned to a steady downpour and the field became a quagmire.

By the middle innings, the grounds crew was running shuttles onto the field, carrying bags of a drying agent – baseball’s version of cat litter – to absorb the water.

No luck.

A puddle formed on home plate and umpire Jeff Kellogg resorted to using a towel rather than the usual whisk broom to wipe it clean.

Batters kept blinking back the rain drops and pitchers struggled with their footing. Strong gusts dropped the wind-chill factor into the 30s, and fielders covered their bare hands between pitches.

All-Star shortstop Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies chased a popup all over and dropped it for a tough error in the fifth. There were pools of water at every base and the Phillie Phanatic wore a rain slicker for his routine.

B.J. Upton beat out an infield hit with two outs in the sixth on a ball that Rollins bobbled. Upton stole second and hustled home on Pena’s hit, with left fielder Pat Burrell’s throw home plopping into a puddle in the grass.

Fans showed up hoping they’d be witnesses to a World Series championship. Shane Victorino got them cheering with bases-loaded single in the first for a 2-0 lead off Scott Kazmir.

Rays manager Joe Maddon tinkered with his lineup, dropping the slumping Pena and Longoria one spot each – they were a combined 0-for-29 with 15 strikeouts after four games.

The Tampa Bay stars ended their hitless ruts in the fourth when Pena doubled off the right-field wall and Longoria followed with an RBI single up the middle that made it 2-1.

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